Two Jews On Straight Outta Compton

The year is 1988. The place is Compton in South LA. A group of guys got together and made history. ‘Straight Out Of Compton’ directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Andrea Berloff and Jonathan Herman takes us on their personal as well as musical journey. It’s also a story about the times, when police treated black Americans as if they were garbage. Unfortunately we can’t help but be constantly reminded that things haven’t changed all that much.

N.W.A. was formed by Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson, Jr.), Easy E (Jason Mitchell), Dj Yella (Neil Brown Jr. and MCRen (Aidis Hodge) in the late 1980’s. They used Easy-E’s drug money to form a record label entitled Ruthless and it’s because of his business sense, the group took off. It’s at this point, they catch the eye of Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti) a rock manager who became co-owner of Ruthless. He also got the guys signed to Priority Records. Unfortunately, Jerry however was a bit of a sleeze and only looked out for his interests as well as to some degree Easy E’s. What made the group’s Rap so powerful is that they voiced the discontent that black people were feeling all over the U.S. They’re famous but ultra controversial 1988 anthem, ‘F-k tha Police’ caused them to not only have many confrontations with the police but caught the attention of the FBI as well.

Besides the music, ‘Straight Out Of Compton’ is the story of friendship. These guys really cared about each other despite their falling- outs. We get to meet several familiar faces including the notorious Marion “Suge” Knight (the excellent R. Marcos Taylor) who started out as a body guard and went onto forming on to becoming a musical icon in his own right. Suge formed ‘Death Row records with Dr. Dre, who became disgusted with Knight’s gangsta tactics. Dre went on to form his own company Aftermath and we all know how that turned on.

‘Straight Out Of Compton’ is an explosive, powerful, beautifully acted film, filled with incredible music, and tremendous live performances. The film which received my highest bagel score 5 out of 5, opens in theatres Friday, August 14th. Don’t miss it.

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Joan and John Schwartz

Joan and John Schwartz are ex New Yorkers, living in Los Angeles. They are married and see a lot of films. They usually disagree but always tell it like it is. John is most famous for creating the cult classic films Faces of Death. He has also written for various prime time series and has written movies for both Showtime and HBO. In the world of reality television John has produced, written and directed over 450 segments for various magazine shows He has also written and Executive Produced several Prime-Time Specials. Joan has appeared on the New York Stage on and off Broadway…and has been in several Los Angeles theater productions as well.. Joan has been in several low budget films and at present she is busy writing screenplays with her husband, John.

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